Jordan Howard scored his first touchdown of the season, Khalil Mack recorded two sacks and the Bears’ defense came alive after a slow start for a comeback 16-14 win over the Cardinals on Sunday afternoon. The game got off to a rough start for the Bears, who found themselves trailing 14-0 after a disastrous first quarter, but a relentless defense found its groove in time to enable a comeback.

Eddie Jackson and Sherrick McManus each picked off Sam Bradford, then Bryce Callahan intercepted rookie Josh Rosen after he came in for his NFL debut. The Cardinals ended up turning the ball over four times in the game, which spelled doom for them. The Bears are now 2-1 and atop the NFC North three weeks into the 2018 season.

Final score: Bears 16, Cardinals 14

Bears 16, Cardinals 14: A pick six by Eddie Jackson is brought back due to an offside call on Khalil Mack.

Bears 16, Cardinals 14: Maybe not so fast? The Bears couldn’t get a first down to put away the game so Josh Rosen and the Cardinals get the ball back at the Bears’ 20-yard line with no timeouts and 43 seconds left on the clock. The defense needs to make one last stop.

Bears 16, Cardinals 14: Rookie lineman Bilal Nichols came through on third down with a huge stop to put the Cardinals on the brink, then Bryce Callahan picked off Rosen on fourth down with 1:10 remaining on the clock. The Bears are going to hang on for a comeback victory.

Bears 16, Cardinals 14: Josh Rosen has the Cardinals moving slowly but surely on his first NFL drive. Here’s his first pass attempt.

Bears 16, Cardinals 14: An odd sequence ends with Cody Parkey hitting a 43-yard field goal to give the Bears their first lead of the game. The team initially lined up with the offense to go for it on fourth down but Matt Nagy called a timeout and brought out the special teams instead. It also appears Arizona is bringing in rookie QB Josh Rosen to make his NFL debut.

Cardinals 14, Bears 13: What a play by the Bears’ defense to come through on third down with a forced fumble on a Sam Bradford rush up the middle. The QB successfully evaded the pass rush and tried to salvage the play by gaining a few yards and instead cost his team badly with an ill-timed turnover. Other than a weak start to the game, Chicago’s defense has been on point.

Third quarter: Cardinals 14, Bears 13

Cardinals 14, Bears 13: Cody Parkey hit from 41 yards out to cut the Cardinals’ lead to one. However, Anthony Miller left the game with an apparent injury, so he could be out for the rest of the game.

Cardinals 14, Bears 10: Another big play by the Bears’ defense with Sherrick McManus picking off Bradford on third down in Cardinals’ territory. The offense will have a short field to potentially score a touchdown and get the first lead of the afternoon.

Cardinals 14, Bears 3: The Bears successfully executed a quick shuffle pass on fourth-and-1 to keep the drive alive, then got a lucky break when a terrible decision to pass into traffic by Trubisky didn’t lead to an interception. Tarik Cohen then burst through the defense before getting stopped at the 1-yard line.

Cardinals 14, Bears 3: A big play downfield! Trubisky found Allen Robinson streaking down the sideline after a sweet double move for a big 39-yard pass, the Bears’ longest of the season. The accuracy on deep balls hasn’t been there for the Bears QB this season but he looked the part on that throw.

Cardinals 14, Bears 3: Eddie Jackson’s first interception of the season gives the Bears’ offense a chance to start the comeback. Sam Bradford tried to go over the top of the defense on third down but Jackson was there to come down with the ball.

Cardinals 14, Bears 3: Scripted plays coming out of halftime couldn’t get the offense going as Mitch Trubisky got sacked on third down. Sherrick McManus made a good trip-up tackle on the punt to avoid a potentially big return.

Halftime: Cardinals 14, Bears 3

Cardinals 14, Bears 3: A big sack on third down by Khalil Mack knocked the Cardinals out of field goal territory, so they settled for a punt. All in all, not a good half for the Bears, who hold big advantages in yardage (179-101) and first downs (12-4) but trail anyway due to a pair of turnovers.

Cardinals 14, Bears 3: A bad half for Trubisky gets worse with a tipped pass in the backfield that’s intercepted, quickly bringing an end to a potential two-minute drive. Now the Cardinals have a chance to extend their lead further before halftime.

Cardinals 14, Bears 3: The Bears will get the ball back for a chance to finish the first half strong after forcing a fumble with a big-time pass rush on third down. David Johnson kept his head up to recover the ball and allow the Cardinals to punt, but that was still a huge play by the defense.

Cardinals 14, Bears 3: The Cardinals’ defense did the Bears some favors with a pair of roughing the passer penalties in the red zone, but the offense couldn’t take advantage with a touchdown. Instead, Cody Parkey hit his first field goal of the game to get Chicago on the scoreboard. It’s fair to say that Mitch Trubisky’s decision-making hasn’t been totally on point so far.

Cardinals 14, Bears 0: Not a great first half for Eric Kush, who got busted for his second penalty of the game after a previous chop block infraction forced them to punt earlier on. Expect the calls for second-round pick James Daniels to get louder if Kush doesn’t turn around his play.

Cardinals 14, Bears 0: Trubisky has tried to air the ball out a few times but not to any success so far. Like the first two weeks, much of his production is coming on shorter passes so far.

Wrote today about Mitch Trubisky needing to be successful on deep tries. Not sure throwing to a double-covered 5-8 guy on third down is the right way to get there.

First quarter: Cardinals 14, Bears 0

Cardinals 14, Bears 0: Mitch Trubisky fumbled after taking a swat from Robert Nkemdiche and the Cardinals picked it up for a turnover, then Sam Bradford found David Johnson on the first play afterwards for a 21-yard touchdown pass. Bradford had all the time in the world to find a wide open Johnson for their second touchdown of the game.

Cardinals, 7, Bears 0: The Bears seemed to be on their way to matching the Cardinals’ touchdown with the thunder and lightning duo of Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen getting going, but the drive stalled out on third-and-6 at the 13-yard line with a sack. Even worse, Cody Parkey proceeded to miss the 46-yard field goal, so after getting just 13 yards from the end zone, the Bears came away scoreless.

Cardinals 7, Bears 0: A horrible first drive for the Bears’ defense. Arizona posted its longest play of the season, a 30-yarder to Christian Kirk, to get the drive going, then quickly followed it up with an even longer play. Ricky Seals-Jones got free to walk into the end zone untouched for a 35-yard touchdown. Don’t think that’s how anyone expected the Cardinals’ offense to start this game.

Bears 0, Cardinals 0: The Bears won the coin toss and deferred for the third straight game, so it’s pretty clear now what Matt Nagy’s preference is there. The Cardinals will open the game with possession while the Bears get the ball to start the second half.

Before the game

The first Sunday afternoon with Bears football of the 2018 season delivers a favorable matchup against the struggling Cardinals. It’s a chance for the Bears to move into first place in the NFC North for the first time since December 2013 after the Packers and Vikings each lost their Week 3 matchups.

Opportunity is knocking on the door or the Bears after their victory over the Seahawks on “Monday Night Football.” The defense appears to be a major strength behind the addition of Khalil Mack and the offense has shown signs of potential under Matt Nagy. If the team can get rolling on both sides of the ball, it could be one of the toughest in the NFL.

The Cardinals should serve up a chance for the Bears to play well based on their first two games of the season. They’re not only 0-2 this season but have been rocked by opponents, 58-6. No team scored fewer points through Week 2, and now they’re going up against Mack and the Bears. Unless Sam Bradford or David Johnson can pull a rabbit of his hat, it’s going to be a long afternoon for Arizona.

The inactives for the game don’t include any surprises. The Bears will be without cornerback Marcus Cooper, safety DeAndre Houston-Carson, linebacker Kylie Fitts and wide receiver Javon Wims, among others. The Cardinals won’t have starting offensive lineman Andre Smith or defensive tackle Olson Pierre.